Since the day he made his big-league debut in 2019, Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen owns the sixth-best ERA among major league starters. He received down-ballot Cy Young votes last year. He appears to be in consideration to start this year on Opening Day.
And yet Gallen on Sunday spent part of his first media session of spring training talking about the notion that he is overlooked, that he has a perpetual chip on his shoulder.
“I don’t know why it’s like that,” Gallen said. “But it’s probably just ingrained in me.”
It is a quality, his manager believes, that helps explain Gallen’s ability.